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The Mbandza of Central African Republic

The Mbandza of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 2,400 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Banda ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Mbandja is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Mbandza

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Sudanic
Primary Language(s): Mbandja (zmz)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012892
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Pray for the Mbandza of Central African Republic

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mbandja
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Mbandja Speakers

Media Resources in Mbandja:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mbandja:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Société Biblique de la République Démocratique du Congo✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mbandja bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mbandza are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Mbandza:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Mbandza of Central African Republic

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
readLuke 10:3

Ask God to raise up and send humble believers who will depend on Him as they go out like lambs among wolves to share the good news with those who need to hear it.

Mbanza Across Countries (ROP3 - 106463) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
MbandzaPG012892MbandzaCentral African Republic2,400No Longer UnreachedMbandjaEthnoreligion
MbanjaPG014650MbanjaCongo, Democratic Republic of the744,000Unengaged and UnreachedMbandjaRoman Catholicism
MbanzaPG012988MbanzaCongo19,000Unengaged and UnreachedMbandjaProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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